


Fear, Fights, and Changes

by PolyPairings



Series: The Arbiter, The Medic, and Inter-Species Relationships [7]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Arbiter x Reader, CCS-Class Battlecruiser, Elites | Sangheili - Freeform, First Time Writing Fight Scene, Foreshadowing, Gender-neutral Reader, Harmonious Resolution (Ship Name), Medical Technology, No Beta - We Die Like Badasses, Other, Over the river and through the woods, Thel 'Vadam x Reader, To Sanghelios We Go, eventually, reader is a badass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 11:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25969159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolyPairings/pseuds/PolyPairings
Summary: Dating and courting the Arbiter comes with its own perks and consequences. Some of those consequences may affect your life more than you think it would.This is the last work in the UNSCInfinityarc. After this, there's a setting change.
Relationships: Thel 'Vadam | The Arbiter/Reader
Series: The Arbiter, The Medic, and Inter-Species Relationships [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615108
Comments: 28
Kudos: 41





	1. Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thel and the reader have now been dating for 41 days. Probably. I'm bad at math.
> 
> I didn't tag Dr. Chakwas or Alex because they're both based on characters from different fandoms.
> 
>  **Trigger/Content Warning** : Very brief mention of suicide. It is only mentioned once; it is in the paragraph that begins with "Thel has since been doing what he can to encourage organic cultural growth and changes..." and is in the very last sentence of the paragraph. Do what you need to do to stay safe, loves.

_Saturday, August 28, 2556_

You have been with Thel for more than a month, long enough to be considered exclusively dating by Humans, and officially courtship partners by the Sangheili. And it has been amazing.

After your first simulation date, you drew even closer. Thel was especially happy with the interest you showed in his culture and homeland. He took you on another date to the same sim room, this time to his Keep. Vadam Keep was magnificent, and he showed you where he trained and grew up. It was completely empty when he showed you, devoid of Sangheili, so it was a bit eerie. It made sense to not add any saurians* to disrupt you, though. Simulated creatures interacted with physical beings in sim rooms thanks to hard light and programming.

(You had gotten some joke memes from Roland about being a third wheel, since a part of him was present to listen for when you wanted to leave.)

Since you couldn't show him your home and where you grew up, and you also didn't have the standing he had to reserve use of a simulation room, you came up with a different solution. You took him back to the memorial park and showed him plants and animals that were on Skopje. There were even a few crabs in one of the many ponds.

You try to schedule walks in the park regularly. It's huge, and you both greatly enjoy both the sights and the conversations you have. You'd even found a relatively small desert section. Thel and you enjoyed comparing Earth desert plants and animals to Sangheili desert plants and animals.

Thel had also been mentioning on your dates that there's a new program to further collaboration between Humans and Sangheili. When Thel returns to his ship, he will leave the usual 24 Swords of Sanghelios on the _Infinity_ , as well as three corvette-class ships to accompany the _Infinity_ and be under its command. In return, there will be more technology exchange, and some Humans will be stationed on different ships in Thel's fleet to learn about their technology and way of doing things.

Thel had brought up that he will regretfully be leaving the _Infinity_ soon, at the same time as the beginning of the program. He told you that if you joined the program, he could see to it that you are on his ship. He also made sure that you knew he wasn't asking you to decide anything immediately, and that he would respect any decision you make.

Additionally, Thel has now seen the first five Star Wars movies. He got great amusement at seeing what Humans thought aliens would look like. He even noted that some of them seemed similar to species from the Covenant Fringe. 

And now, you're rolled into a blanket burrito while watching the political docu-series that Shaun had recommended to you. He was right, it is good. The episode you're watching ends, and the next one starts automatically after some seconds. Useful, that. You're incredibly warm and comfortable in your blanket burrito, and don't feel like moving, even just to select the next episode.

You get a bit into the next episode before your screen suddenly freezes and an alert flashes up on it. Startled, you wiggle an arm out of your cocoon to access it.

You stare in disbelief at the Code White and Code Orange notifications on your screen for a few seconds before you start scrambling out of your blankets.

Your lounge clothes are changed for scrubs and your white coat in less than a minute thanks to your experience in speedy changing.

A violent situation and assistance needed.

You're confused as to why your assistance is needed in a violent situation, as there would be marines called to handle that. You know that it must be important, since you've just been summoned on your day off, so if you're told you're needed in the medbay, to the medbay you go.

There are four marines stationed by the door on the inside, and they're all jumpy. You're able to quickly scan the room before Dr. Chakwas sees you and heads over to you. You don't see any violent people, just regular patients and medical personnel, and a curtained area.

Your eyes snap to the curtained area as Dr. Chakwas leads you off to the side to talk quietly with you. Is Thel hurt? That curtain usually comes up for him.

"(Y/N), I'm sorry we called you in on one of your days off, but this is serious."

She's using your first name, so this is certainly serious.

"What's going on? Who's being violent?"

Dr. Chakwas holds up a hand and shakes her head.

"No one's been violent yet, but there is some fear that he might be. There's a pair of Sangheili here," she gestures to the curtain, "and one of them asked for you specifically."

"Is it Thel-, I mean, the Arbiter?"

She gives you a slightly sympathetic look.

"No, don't worry. He won't give us his name, and the Sangheili that came in with him was the one to ask for you. He's injured, but he yelled and flailed at any of the medical officers who've even gotten near them. That's why the marines are here."

"Understood," you nod. You scan the room and listen to the tense Sangheili conversation you can hear coming from by the curtained area.

"Tell the marines to stay out here unless they specifically hear me shout for them. We don't need the situation to escalate."

Dr. Chakwas goes to relay the message as you wash your hands and steel yourself for what may await you.

You take a deep breath before moving aside the curtain and meeting the Sangheili in the room.

There's a smaller, more lean Sangheili standing next to one sitting on a bed. The one on the bed has a long, deep cut on his abdomen, and the well Sangheili is trying to push him into a laying position and keep him on the bed. The armor for the upper half of his body is nowhere in sight, and his tech suit is pulled down to the waist.

Upon seeing you, his struggles increase. 

"I will not allow a dishonorable cow to spill my blood outside of battle, Daya!"

The eyes of the leaner Sangheili, Daya, widen once she sees just who he's talking about, and she smacks the injured one upside the head. 

"Fool! That is the Arbiter's courtship partner!"

That information shocks him enough that Daya gets the upper hand and shoves him down onto his back. Purple blood has stained the bed, and has dripped onto the floor in some places from his struggling. 

You carefully approach as Daya gets him under control.

"I do not need help, I am fine!" He protests relentlessly, and pushes against Daya's hands on his shoulder and chest.

There's quite a bit of blood on his skin and armor, and you can smell it, too. It's a strange, acrid smell, like burnt coffee or battery acid. The smell will linger for some time. That's something that was discovered during the war when Sangheili bodies were cleaned up. It didn't matter how powerful the cleanser, the smell always lingered.

"You don't want me to treat you, is that what you're saying?" You ask loud enough to be heard over his complaints.

"Yes! I am fine!" 

He is not fine. 

You get closer to him, ignoring the worried and warning look Daya gives you.

"What shall I tell the Arbiter, then? Shall I tell him that you died here, rather than fighting for him to regain your honor? That you were too afraid to endure treatment?"

Your tone is falsely curious, and you narrow your eyes at him. You don’t like doing this, and you would never want be this harsh to a patient if it weren’t necessary. But this situation calls for it. If insulting his honor and constitution is how you'll get him to consent to treatment, then that's what you'll do.

The injured Sangheili rears back his head as if he's been struck. He flares his mandibles in surprise and rage, and forces himself up into a sitting position to retaliate. Daya smacks him again before he does, and talks at him harshly in Sangheili. She finally seems to be getting through to him, and his eyes widen as she talks.

Daya glances at you and makes a shooing motion. You nod your head at her and leave, taking no offense at the action. You're smart enough to see they need to talk without your presence.

As you leave the curtained-off area, you see the marines are still there. Their presence is somewhat of an annoyance, as you think they're not likely to be necessary and if the injured Sangheili saw them the situation may escalate, but you understand why they're still here. Protocol and all.

They're still very jumpy though, and the tense conversation in Sangheili they can hear isn't helping matters much. You lean against a wall with crossed arms and observe them. They're actually a bit too jumpy. You have a suspicion that they might be newer recruits, ones that were recruited after the Great War. If so, then they've likely never actually been around Sangheili, only heard the stories about them. Those stories aren't good ones.

While you're waiting, the injured Sangheili is slowly reevaluating his life choices. He's made a grave mistake.

.:What were you thinking, Thesan? I told you who I asked for! I told you who'd be meeting us!:.

The injured Sangheili, Thesan, is slowly sinking into despair. He called you, whom the Arbiter is officially and openly courting, a dishonorable cow. You could have him exiled from any fleet and back to Sanghelios. He would bring dishonor to his Keep, and they would have to humiliate themselves and publicly apologize for his transgression. 

.:Just accept their help, Thesan. You won't be able to train or fight in your condition, and that's the best way to start earning their forgiveness. You must apologize, as well. Khova told me they're level-headed, they may not make a spectacle of you:.

Thesan isn't so sure of that. You have power over him, now. Depending on what you tell the Arbiter, he could be lenient or enraged. If someone talked to his courtship partner like that, he would publicly shame them.

At Thesan's silence and mute acceptance, Daya breaths a sigh of relief. She goes to leave the curtains as he lays himself down on the bed.

Daya's sudden appearance makes as she quickly pushes aside a curtain makes the marines jump, and one even lifts his M6H Magnum a bit, which he shouldn't even have been actively holding in the first place. Guns should be holstered and with the safety on until they need to be used. They should know this.

Daya pauses at the sight, and eyes the marines warily.

"Stand down," you bark, straightening immediately. 

Three of them follow your order almost instantly, since you used your commanding voice. The one with his Magnum out hesitates though, looking at you and questioning your authority to give him orders.

"Now," you snap, as you stand at your full height and draw upon the authority you haven't had to use since Peters. At your challenging stare, he flushes and complies.

You'll certainly be discovering who their CO is and having them give them a refresher on gun safety. You can see Dr. Chakwas glaring at the one who almost disobeyed you, so you won't need to remind them of the unofficial-official authority medics have. You're a higher rank than him regardless.

"Dr. (L/N)."

You approach Daya, and she leans down a bit to quietly whisper, "he will accept treatment."

"I'll be just a minute," you affirm.

She nods and goes back behind the curtain as you collect what you need and wash your hands.

The injured Sangheili is laying full out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Daya told you he'd accept treatment, but you want to make sure.

"Do you consent to treatment?"

"Yes." His orange eyes flick briefly to yours. "I, Thesan 'Murum, consent to treatment," he says with a stronger voice.

"Thank you." Thesan nods respectfully at you before flicking his eyes back to the ceiling, and you raise an eyebrow. His behavior is a far cry from what it was when you first got here.

To distract him from treatment, you decide to make conversation. It should serve to put him more at ease, too, if it did not seem you were focused on or judging his injury.

"My name is Dr. (Y/N) (L/N). I heard that one of you asked for me?"

Daya gives you a relieved look. She suspects what you're doing.

"I am Daya 'Tragram. I was the one to ask for you."

You mop up the blood around the cut, then reach for the disinfectant. You quietly tell Thesan that it will sting.

"Why did you request for me specifically, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I have heard about you from some of the Arbiter's Honor Guard. N'thito, mostly, but Khova as well. They both speak very highly of you. N'thito told me to ask for you if I ever needed medical care after the last time I was here."

You hum at the information as you confirm that the cut is too deep for Medigel Thesan will need stitches. You inform him of this, and he consents to it. He denies any numbing or polypseudomorphine**, though.

"You've been here before?" You start the first stitch.

Daya seems embarrassed. "Yes, I have," she says vaguely.

You glance up at her with a raised brow before going back to your stitching.

Thesan had flinched minutely at the first few stitches, but when you get to the third one he jerks. You pause.

"Breath, 'Murum," you murmur, putting a comforting hand on his chest. He does, and you wait for his clenched fists to loosen before you begin again.

"I ate something that my stomach disliked," Daya admits, having seen the interaction. 

That's still vague, but it sounds familiar. Didn't you hear something about a Sangheili eating something bad and having to have a trip to the medbay?

"I heard that someone figured out the Sangheili stomach doesn't handle chocolate pudding well," you remember. "Was that you?"

Daya's madibles flare in embarrassment, her grey eyes avoid yours, and that's all the answer you needed.

You snort. "To be fair, I don't think any Sangheili can digest dairy very well. You can try an alternative, if you're game."

You shouldn't be encouraging the stupid challenges that marines do, since they usually end up with someone in the infirmary. However, the fact that they're allowing Sangheili to participate in them is good, and it can improve relations.

"I'll keep that in mind," Daya says as you finish up the last stitch. You pull off your bloody pair of gloves and exchange them with a fresh pair.

You eye the freshly-stitched cut on Thesan's stomach with a critical eye. It's too long for a regular adhesive dressing, so you'll have to use gauze. While the Sangheili stomach is thinner than the chest, it's still too broad for you to easily reach around.

Daya agrees to wash her hands and help wrap the gauze, and goes out to do so.

"Dr. (L/N)," Thesan starts. He's now sitting on the edge of the bed, ready for the dressing to be put on. He seems calm, but internally he's worried. You've seemed level-headed and kind so far, as Khova and N'thito have said, but he doesn't know if you'll accept his apology.

"Yes?" You ask, not unkindly. Meanwhile, Daya is asking Dr. Chakwas which soap to use and taking her time to give Thesan a chance to apologize.

"I would like to...speak upon my earlier actions," he says slowly and carefully. "I was behaving dishonorably, and would like to extend my apologies to both you and your courtship partner." He awaits your answer apprehensively.

"Oh." You pause, uncertain of what to do. You have no baseline for how to react to a Sangheili apology, as most the information you know is from Covenant days and therefore outdated. You decide to wing it and hope for the best.

"I accept your apology and will relay it to the Arbiter." Thesan still waits, so you add on to that. "I did not take any offense from what you said, I understand the cultural significance of these matters."

And you do. There was a severe cultural stigma regarding medical matters, and requiring medical attention was considered highly dishonorable. Thel told you himself of a time he was injured in training back in 2528, and how his family kept both it and the visit from the physician hushed up. It would have been especially bad for him had someone found out, as he was recently made Kaidon of his Keep.***

Thel has since been doing what he can with his people to encourage organic cultural growth and changes, and to abandon values imparted on them by the Covenant. He has been able to sway his people from some of the more archaic traditions and values. Some Covenant traditions, such as the dropping of the 'ee suffix that signified a Sangheili was a Covenant soldier were dropped easily and with little time. However, the stigma against medicine and injuries had already existed in Sangheili culture before being capitalized on by the Covenant, and is much more difficult to change. Thel has had some success, as now only about half of those grievously injured in battle will commit suicide to regain their honor.

You smile warmly at Thesan. "Don't worry about it. I've heard worse. Some Humans cuss a lot when they're in pain or drugged," you joke. You've also heard much worse from Peters. But that asshole is now working in waste recycling while he awaits his court marshal trial. He's not allowed anywhere near you.

"Thank you."

Thesan nods gratefully at you, relieved. N'thito had gushed a bit to him and Daya one time about you, but the younger Sangheili sometimes exaggerated and got excited easily. Khova had also described you with a positive light, but sparingly and not as often. He has more tact than N'thito. It seems their assessments of you weren't wrong.

At that moment, Daya enters again. The timing is suspiciously good, and you wonder if she was listening in. (She was.)

She helps you dress the wound, and you spend a bit more working out details with her and Thesan. He agrees to follow all the directions given to him, and even to let any capable medic change the dressings for him, given that they don't talk about him. You tell him you'll have Dr. Chakwas leave up the curtains rather than taking them down, so he can have privacy any time he comes to the medbay.

With an additional promise from Daya that she'll drag Thesan here if he refuses or tries to get out of it, they leave.

When you exit the curtains, you notice a Corporal is standing with the marines. Dr. Chakwas likely contacted her. The marines look resigned, and follow the Corporal obediently out of the infirmary shortly after the Sangheili leave.

You glance at Dr. Chakwas and then the door, a silent question to her. She nods, giving you permission to leave. You start walking towards the door, but-

"(Y/N)!"

Your gaze is drawn to Alex, who enthusiastically waves you over. You sigh and steel yourself for their questions. 

By the next day, you're known affectionately in your medbay as the Sangheili-Wrangler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *My version of the word 'people' for Sangheili  
> **Polyseuodmorphine is used often in the Halo multiverse. It is not addictive like morphine itself is. Enough of it can put a full-grown adult under for a day, and a small injection can be used to ease one's pain. It has been nicknamed as "polly-sue". (Source: [Halopedia: Polypseudomorphine](https://www.halopedia.org/Polypseudomorphine) )  
> ***Yes, this happened. If you want to know the details (that we have been given, at least) read the 'Early Life' section of the Halopedia page. It also has the rest of Thel's life, including his snazzy fur coat, if you want to read about it. (Source: [Halopedia: Thel 'Vadam](https://www.halopedia.org/Thel_%27Vadam) )
> 
> Do you think there'd be memes in the 26th century? I hope so. Constantly facing the fact that the future will probably be horrible you might die in a large number of ways you can do nothing to stop? Make memes! It's what we're doing now, we'd probably do it in the future, too.


	2. Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Thel have been dating/courting for 46(?) days. Pretty sure it's 46, might be off by one or two, numbers are difficult.

_Thursday, September 2nd, 2556_

You yawn as you walk back to your quarters. It's about 0200 ship time, and you're exhausted. Your shift ended at 2400, but you got caught up with helping restock and organize and just lost track of time. Thankfully, you have the day off tomorrow, er, today. Your schedule would probably seem strange to civilian medical workers who work planetside, but it works for you. Because there's many smaller medbays on the _Infinity_ rather than just one big one for the 17,000 occupants of the ship, there's a lot of medical personnel. Even the hundreds on board have difficulty taking care of the ship. However, since the war is over, the UNSC can afford to have its medical officers on a rotating schedule, to prevent mental and physical exhaustion, as well as burn-out. As such, the days and hours you work constantly fluctuate. It's a boon while dating the Arbiter, as his schedule is similar, but he rarely, if at all, gets days off. Instead you meet when he has precious free time, or even just in the few hours between events and meetings. He'd usually be going on constant combat missions, but while on the Infinity he is acting as a diplomat.

You are looking forward to taking a (hopefully) hot shower and worming your way beneath your blankets for some sleep, which may be why you don't think much of the footsteps behind you that have been following you for a while. You just idly assume that they're crewmembers moving to or from a late-night shift, much like you. You have no reason to believe any different; the Great War is over, and the _Infinity_ is a safe place. Nobody would attack you here while walking the halls, and even a full-scale attack would take a while to get to the inner parts of the ship.

As you turn the corner into the next hallway, a set of the footsteps speed up, a woman* walking quickly past you. You pay her no mind, until she stops in the middle of the hallway and turns to face you. You slow to a stop and blink, slightly bewildered. She looks familiar, but you can't place her in your tired state.

"Can I help you?"

Your instincts are picking up on a feeling of danger and unease that's slowly growing. Your heart begins to speed up upon hearing more footsteps behind you slowing to a stop. You've been surrounded, and with your sudden alertness you take stock of your surroundings. You're in an empty hallway, with not another person around. By the sound of the footsteps, you can estimate the location of the two people behind you. Observing the woman, you notice the bulge of a concealed weapon between the waistband of her pants and her skin, covered by her shirt. This is all done in mere seconds, the skills you've developed during the war no less potent than they were last they were used.

"Yeah, you can," the woman says, disdainfully. "Our buddy was stabbed through the gut by an energy sword."

It clicks in your head, and you remember the woman. She and two others came in to visit him during a shift. He hadn't been doing well. Usually, a plasma sword will cauterize a wound, but some of the Covenant have purposefully changed the settings on their swords to make their victims bleed.** He was bleeding internally for a while before he received medical attention. Their visit was to say goodbye. If all his visitors are here, then that means your original assessment of there being three contacts, one in front and two behind you is correct. 

"I remember you," you say lightly, calmly. "Is something wrong? Is that why you've sought me out?"

You shift your feet in apparent confusion and discomfort, while in reality you're getting into a fighting stance. You can't tell if they notice what you're doing.

"Yeah, there _is_ a problem," the chosen spokesperson of the group spits. "You let our friend die, and then you go and cuddle up to one of the leaders of the split-jaws who killed him. Makes a person wonder where your allegiances lie."

"I am allied with Humanity and its allies," you say smoothly, attempting to deescalate the situation. 

"See, I don't think you are," she spits, pulling a combat knife out from the waistband of her pants. "And I think we need to remind you what happens to the people who ally themselves with monsters."

One of the two behind you, both men if you remember correctly, darts forward and puts you in a hold. You allow it to happen, and make one more try at ending things civilly.

"Why don't we take a step back from the situation. You don't want to get into any more trouble than you already will be."

The woman brandishes the knife and saunters towards you, chuckling darkly.

You take a deep breath, steeling yourself, then lift your legs off the ground. The sudden weight takes the man holding you by surprise, and his grip slips as he stumbles forward. You break yourself free from his grip, pull one of his arms over your shoulder, twist a bit, and heave him off his feet, throwing him into the woman who had been closing on you. 

The third one comes at you with a punch, which you dodge to the side. He twists in his movement and instead grabs your neck. He gets both hands around it and starts squeezing as you grapple each other. You move your arms up in between his, bringing them up and around, forcing his arms apart and away from your neck. By the end of the move, you have both of his arms in your hands, which you use to pull him forward and thrust your knee into his stomach. He doubles over, gasping for breath, and you use the opportunity to hold his head in place and bring your knee up into it. 

He slumps to the ground, out cold as you feel a displacement of air moving at your back. You hop quickly to the side, dodging the attempted grab from the bigger man. You use the fallen body to your advantage, using his momentum and an extra push to send him stumbling then falling over his fellow asshole's unconscious body.

The lady with the knife smartly stays away, making you have to go to her and unable to add her to the temporary dogpile of bodies.

You get across from her, keeping an ear out for the big man getting up behind you. She uses your supposed distraction to lunge at you with her knife, which you redirect. If you were in your BDU or had a knife of your own, you'd be able to block the knife and disarm her. As you're only in scrubs and a white coat with nothing but a datapad and the lotion Thel gave you in your pocket, all you can do is dodge and try to disarm her that way. 

You hear the heavy steps of the big man behind you, and quickly kick backwards into his knee to destabilize him, and he curses under his breath.

Knife lady lunges at you again, which you redirect to the side. You grab her arm and twist it behind her, forcing her to let go of the knife. You let go with one hand and deliver a swift punch to her side. As you go to deliver another one to the side of her head, the big guy gets ahold of you and drags you back.

You lose your traction and scramble to catch your balance, leaving an opportunity which he uses to hold your arms behind your back with one hand, and wrap an arm around your throat, his elbow in front of your face. He squeezes, making your breath leave your mouth and causing you to gag slightly.

You struggle, and stomp on the man's foot, but you're still unbalanced and having difficulty breathing, so it isn't hard enough. He squeezes tighter, cutting off your air completely.

This gives knife lady enough time to pick it up and approach you.

"You're gonna pay for this, asshole," she seethes. 

She looks you over, considering cutting your face but deciding to work her way up to it.

"This is for Tarun," she hisses as she puts the tip of the knife to your shoulder and starts to slowly push it in.

You bring your feet up, hoping to dislodge the big man's grip, which cause the knife to cut across your skin.

He's prepared for this, and it doesn't work, so you instead use him as a springboard. Using him as leverage, you kick your leg into the air and snap it into knife lady's jaw with as much force as you can muster with your lack of oxygen. It's enough, and both the knife and her body drop to the floor. She doesn't get up.

Spots are beginning to dance in front of your eyes and your vision is tunneling, so you angle your head downward and bite into big guy's arm, hard. Your teeth break the skin, and blood fills your mouth, but you don't let go.

He curses loudly, smacking you on the head several times with an open palm, and when that doesn't work, the side of his fist. You let go with a gasp, head jerking to the side. You blink hard to clear your head as you slump a bit from both the hit and the oxygen deprivation. This gives the big guy enough confidence to loosen his arm and try to see the bite on it. 

Trying to get in as deep breaths as you can, you right your head and snap it back into his face, feeling his chin crack. He drops you and stumbles back as you vaguely hear shouting from around the corner.

After he feels his jaw to see if it's broken, the man glares at you and comes at you again. You're slowed by the state you're in, but you're still a CQC expert and he's clumsy in his anger. You dodge his fist and jab him in the solar plexus, stunning him. 

Running feet come around the corner, and you see a couple of MP running towards you, their uniform distinctive enough for you to recognize even in your current state. You stumble back from the man, still wheezing, instead of delivering a finishing punch as you were planning to do. One of them restrains the man as the other approaches you, and as you see you're being protected, you drop to your knees and hunch over, clutching at your throat and trying to get a full breath in. 

The other crouches beside you and calls down the hallway, but you can't hear what they say through the ringing in your ears.

A medic runs around the corner and makes a beeline for you. You notice detachedly that it's one of your trainees, and xe looks distraught. You think xyr calling your name, but it sounds muffled. You close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing and only your breathing, compartmentalizing the trauma of what happened for a later date. It served you well during the war, and it'll serve you well for what comes next.

* * *

You're ushered to the closest medbay, which happens to be yours. You get placed in the curtained-off area that was being left up for Thesan, as you'd promised. Pictures of your injuries are taken, first. Then MediGel*** applied to your shoulder and the impressive bruising around your throat.

It heals the cut on your shoulder, as it was fairly superficial, but it only fades the bruises on your throat. Since the bruising is so extensive and deep, a second one is applied, which reduces the bruising to a level good enough that you can talk without much pain. The bruising is still visible, but it's not as bad.

You endure a lot of questions, and have to repeat yourself to multiple people. The hallway you were in is a blind spot, as you can't have cameras covering every inch of the massive Infinity. Roland had picked up the altercation on microphones, however, which are in the ceiling in regular intervals along with speakers for him to make announcements and communicate with people. He was the one to contact the Military Police and send them to your assistance.

When the questions are done with, and the information recorded, you're still stuck in the medbay. With the bruising being on your throat, you should wait for the MediGel to work its full effect and to see if anything around your larynx will heal wrong.

It's during that time that Thel comes to see you. Roland had personally messaged him what happened. He takes in the bruising and blood on your clothes with anger in his eyes, but not towards you. He sits next to you on the bed, and holds one of your hands in his, waiting.

You stew silently for a while, angry at everything. The Infinity was supposed to be safe, these people were supposed to be your allies. You'd let yourself get too soft, too trusting. You never would have gotten this injured during the war, you would have taken them all down with minimal injuries. And you don't need to stay in the medbay, you're fine. You just want to go to your room and burrow into your bed.

Thel starts stroking one of his thumbs across the top of your hand, and you subconsciously recognize that you're now safe, truly safe. You're always safe with Thel. Your anger doesn't dissolve, but you see the emotions you're hiding behind it, and you feel your eyes burn as you lament. 

Thel senses the change, his amber eyes on your face, and tugs on your hand a bit to get your attention before opening his arms in invitation.

You go to him, curl into his arms and on his lap, and he curls protectively around you. He doesn't comment on whether you cry. He just listens as you lament on how the ship was supposed to be safe now, those people were supposed to be allies. About how you've seen the glares you get, heard the rumors, but you haven't felt unsafe. And now you do. The _Infinity_ is your home, and you feel unsafe here now.

When you tire of words, you just let him hold you and breathe. You're pretty sure someone should have come in with more MediGel already, but you don't care.

Thel does his best to reassure you, and reminds you of the friends you have, but you both know that this incident won't be the last bad thing you experience on the _Infinity_ because of your courtship and relationship.

"I think, I think I want to sign up for the program," you say eventually.

"Truly?"

You think about how this could all happen again, except it could be more people with better weapons. "Yes."

"Why don't you sleep on this decision? You are very distressed, and I do not want you to make any decision you'll regret. I want you to be happy."

That he'd be unhappy without you by him, he does not mention.

"Okay," you sigh in agreement. 

"Okay," you repeat tiredly.

* * *

By the time you get back to your quarters, it is 0500. Thel would have to leave in a few hours, but he still stays with you until then. You move all your pillows and blankets onto the floor and cuddle into him, dropping into sleep eventually. 

N'thito stands outside your door for most of the day, guarding you. He talks with you when you leave your room to get food and return to the medbay for a final follow-up, trying to cheer you up. It helps, a bit, but you feel even better when Thel comes again later in the day. He is cheered to find your decision the same, and while somber and upset about what made you decide faster, his happiness makes you feel a bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *So, it appears the Reader immediately assumes this lady's gender by the way she looks, which is standard in today's time but nonetheless not preferable. Let's ignore Halo canon and the fact that they show pretty much no sign of societal and cultural growth and evolution, apart from the effects felt from an all-consuming war. People are making some headway with gender identity and gender roles now, so one can safely assume that there'd at least be progress 500 years in the future. As such, I'd propose that it's standard practice for people to wear a pin or bracelet or something to indicate their gender identity and/or pronouns to the people around them. Maybe not everyone, maybe not cis people who are confident that people can assume what their gender identity they prefer from the way they look, but a good number of people. It might even be standard practice in the military to attach a patch on a designated location on their BDUs or uniforms with this information. Hell, we've seen that they put blood type and other information right for people to see, so why not that? Therefore, the Reader would have seen that patch/pin on the woman's clothing and thought of her with she/her pronouns in mind because of it.
> 
> **In idle dialogue in Hal 5: Guardians, you can hear a couple of Sangheili talking about this:  
> "What is it, why do you pause?"  
> "This wound is familiar."  
> "'Mdama Keep. Their plasma blades burn less intensely. Harder to cut armor, but the injuries are more grievous and do not cauterize."  
> "So, the blades leave Sangheili alive, but too wounded to fight."  
> "Most choose suicide to preserve their honor."  
> "Making any wound a death blow."  
> "Barbaric."  
> "Indeed."  
> "Had I ever met Jul 'Mdama, I would have gutted him with my bare claws."
> 
> ***MediGel made its debut in Halo 3: ODST. It can heal most wounds in 5 minutes, including plasma burns and blunt trauma. There are limits, of course, and if it is not healed within the 5 minutes, more medical attention is required. (Source: [Halopedia: Optican: MediGel](https://www.halopedia.org/Optican#MediGel) )
> 
> "Nobody would attack you here"  
> *Reader gets attacked*  
> Reader: *surprised pikachu face*
> 
> Can you tell I enjoy irony? Because I enjoy irony.


	3. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the very last chapter in the _Infinity_ arc, and the beginning of the _Harmonious Resolution_ arc. You can look forward to more dates, more interactions with different Sangheili, and more looks into Sangheili culture. Enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thel and Reader have been Courting for 63 days. 
> 
> Also: Does anyone know how to create a TV Tropes page? I'm considering creating one for this series.
> 
> Also Also: There are more addenda in this than usual, so I have forgone the usual *, **, *** markings and replaced them with * (I), * (II), * (III), etc.

_September 19, 2556_

As much as you wished the exchange program had started immediately and you would’ve been in a safer environment, the Sangheili’s ships needed to be renovated and supplied to meet the needs of the Humans that would be living on them. Thel shared your worries, though, and in the meantime he had Khova and N’thito take turns following you from a distance as you go about your life, to make sure you’re safe. When you’re in your quarters, they stand vigil down the hall in sight of your door, so as not to draw even more attention to you.

You don’t fail to see the irony in the fact that you feel safer with the Sangheili than you do Humans. The ones who once sought the destruction of Humanity are now your protectors from the worst of it.

On the _Infinity_ , with the vast number of Humans aboard, there’s no way for the UNSC to discipline and keep track of every person all the time. They do so in some form thanks to the neural interfaces even the lowest of marines have, but those only show location, vitals, and IFF* (I) status when not connected to helmets and visors.

But with the Sangheili (those loyal to Thel at least), your position as his courtship partner gives you high status. You don’t have the respect or admiration of them like Thel does, but you haven’t done anything for you to deserve that yet. Still, your status offers you protection. Even if a Sangheili didn’t like you and wished you harm, any other in the vicinity or any who heard of them vocalizing such would defend you out of honor. The same cannot be said of all Humans onboard.

But now, finally, after two and a half weeks since the incident, the time has come. You’ll be moving onto the ship Thel has chosen, a CCS-class Battlecruiser* (II) appropriated from the Covenant and named _Harmonious Resolution_. There will be thirty-five other Humans moving onto the ship with you, which is relieving. The ship is smaller than the _Infinity_ , only a bit more than a fifth the size, but it’s still huge.

Surprisingly, Rebecca and Shaun had decided to join you in the program, and were assigned to your ship. They were both excited to work with Covenant-now-Sangheili technology, and Shaun told you he was interested in learning about the histories of the Sangheili and Unggoy. Lucy and Desmond decided to stay on the _Infinity_ , although you think William Miles had more to do with his son staying than Desmond let on.

You’ll be staying in the quarters with the rest of the Humans, as you all have your own small section of the ship tailored to you and your needs. There are three barracks-style rooms, each with room for twelve people.

Thel had offered to clear a room for yourself near his, but you declined. You didn’t want to cause any strife between either species or the Humans and yourself due to special treatment. You’ll already be receiving better treatment than the other Humans onboard, and you’re nervous as to how they’ll behave around you.

Along with the barracks, the Human quarters are outfitted with a mess, a locker room/bathroom, laundry room, a small armory, a room with desks and workspaces, and an additional three rooms for storage. The storage rooms are large, but necessary. There were several Food and Drink Dispensers* (III), or FDDs, added to the mess, and the Human crewmembers have a rotating schedule for their upkeep and refill. The same with upkeep and cleaning of the locker room, bathroom, and laundry room. There are enough toiletries and food supplies to last all Humans onboard for three years, just in case, which is why the vast storage rooms were required. You imagine someone will create a lounge-type area in at least one of them for you all to use.

The jobs the Humans will have on the _Harmonious Resolution_ will vary greatly, and assignments may change according to what is needed. You, personally, will be working in one of the battlecruiser’s own personal medbays, which is also a more recent edition to it. There’s only three for the whole ship, and the other two are staffed with Sangheili medics. There have always been Sangheili physicians, but in very few numbers and almost always in secret. After the split from the Covenant, more Sangheili took it upon themselves to learn how to treat their brothers and sisters, but there’s not enough of them. In your medbay, you’ll actually be teaching some more Sangheili to be medics, not unlike what you were originally doing on the _Infinity_.

All Human personnel are onboard by 0500, and the _Harmonious Resolution_ , alongside the other ships with their new Human inhabitants, undocked from the _Infinity_ by 0700. There were no windows for you to look out of from your medbay. Windows are structural weaknesses, and as such, are only in the command center of the ship and the vehicle bays in the form of sturdy forcefields. You didn’t get to see the _Infinity_ a final time as the fleet got under way and you left Humanity’s flagship behind.

The Humans are being given a single day to adjust to their new environment and schedule before performing duties as normal. This means that you won’t have students until tomorrow. You take the time to familiarize yourself as best you can with the layout of the ship and your own medbay. You also find the other two medbays on the ship and introduce yourself to their workers. It makes sense to, as you’re the only medic out of all the Humans onboard. If you were lower-ranking and less experienced, you likely would have been accompanied by more medics. As it stands, with your rank of Chief Warrant Officer and eleven years of experience, you’re the only one. You are also the most knowledgeable person in medical matters on the entire ship, even compared to Sangheili medics that existed before and during the war. This was no official announcement or anything, but the Sangheili medics know it.

They are cordial enough to you, if somewhat cold. There’s two trained medics in Medical Bay Beta and three in Medical Bay Alpha, which is nearer the center of the ship. They each have their own students and helper Unggoy staff. Your medbay, Medical Bay Gamma, will have the largest number of students due to your expertise. The ship itself has one of the largest populations of Sangheili medical personnel and students, likely due to Thel’s influence.

One of the biggest exchanges in technology is medical technology. You’re going to be teaching your students both Sangheili medicine and how to use Human medical technology. Most procedures are universal and already understood by Sangheili medics, but they are untrained in MediGel, Biomedical Foam (BioFoam), Sterile Field Generators* (IV), and the like.

Most soldiers in the UNSC already knew a bit about the Covenant races’ bodies. A few years into the Great War, after enough time for dissections and investigations, the anatomy and physiology of the Covenant races was made available to the public. It was also added to the training of new recruits, and the more experienced were encouraged to look at it too, to find the weak spots of each of the races. It’s easier to kill a Sangheili when you know where their skull is the weakest and where their hearts are located.

However, the reason you know as much as you do about Sangheili medicine is because of extra classes you took that became available after the first treaty with the Sangheili. You yourself were taught Sangheili medicine by a Sangheili physician. It’s probably one of the main things that led to the development of your current view on the Sangheili.

Rteda ‘Wacam was an older Sangheili, and not at all what you expected. He wasn’t at all hostile to you and the other Humans in your class. In fact, he seemed kinda grandfatherly. He was happy to be able to share his knowledge and speak openly about his craft, something that had been shamed and dishonored for as long as he had lived. He was fascinated by Human medicine, doubly more so by the fact that medical personnel were highly respected and considered ‘everyday heroes’ by most of Humanity. It was from him that you learned a majority of your knowledge on the Sangheili and their culture.

Due to the very nature of your classes, it was full of open-minded people who wanted to learn about the Sangheili and how to help them medically. Oftentimes, your medical class would end up an impromptu history lesson or cultural debate. Rteda was so different from any Sangheili you’d met before, and helped you start separating the Sangheili that were the allies of Humanity from the genocidal, honor-obsessed Sangheili you had known for years. He had also taught you about what he knew of Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Yanme’e and Lekgolo/Mgalekgolo* (V) anatomy and physiology. He had no knowledge on the San’Shyuum* (V), as they used physicians from their own race.

So, you are the most medically knowledgeable person on the ship. You don’t overestimate your ability, you know there’s bound to be Sangheili physicians and medics with better knowledge on their medicine than you, but there weren’t any aboard. Your credentials were low-key questioned in both medbay Alpha and medbay Beta, but upon hearing about your extra classes, or more likely who taught you, their doubts were silenced. You don’t know what became of Rteda ‘Wacam after you completed your classes with him, but apparently his name is enough to assuage any doubts as to the quality of your education.

After meeting with the other medics onboard the ship, you spent the rest of the day getting to know the Unggoy helpers in your medbay, taking inventory of your supplies and equipment, and brainstorming lesson plans for your future students. The already-trained Sangheili medics got lessons on how to use the new Human equipment while the ships were docked with the _Infinity_ and being renovated, so you don’t need to worry about them or their students.

Thankfully, your first day aboard the _Harmonious Resolution_ was spent rather productively. You had even gotten to chat with N’thito and Khova a bit. They had separately checked up on you throughout the day, just as a precaution. Thel trusts his Swords, especially those aboard his own personal ship, but you can never be too careful.

While you messaged him, you did get to see Thel on your first day as well. He came to your medbay at the end of the day, the Human day that is. Days on Sanghelios are 29.5 hours, and the ship-time reflects that. You and the other Humans will have to adjust to that.

He was only able to stay and talk with you for a short while, but it was nice. Thel was and will be incredibly busy, but his current workload is temporary. He has a lot to catch up on from being absent from his fleets, and was feeling stressed. Some handholding and a kiss from you made him feel better. You both wished you could hug each other for a while, but he’s back to wearing his armor all the time, and that wouldn’t be very comfortable. He asked you how you were feeling and how you were settling in, too. You told him the progress you’ve already made with the Sangheili medics, of which he was proud of. You also told him your worries around the Humans.

Each and every one of the Humans had been vetted and interviewed by your and their superiors, yourself included, and hand-picked by Roland. You know you can never express just how grateful you are to Roland for everything he’s done for you. Still, even knowing they should be safe, and that you have Shaun, Rebecca, N’thito, Khova and Thel personally looking out for you, you’re anxious to be around the rest. Thel reminded you that any of his Swords would also step in in your defense in the very unlikely possibility you might be targeted again, which gave you some confidence.

Alas, he had to go back to his duties. With a quick kiss and brief hug, you ignoring the discomfort of hugging his armor, he left again. You have a feeling you’ll have even fewer chances to see each other and relax now that Thel is back with his own fleet and on active combat duty than you did on the _Infinity_ , at least until he's caught up with what he's missed. Your time together will be even rarer and more precious, but you think it’s worth it.

Thel is worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * (I): IFF = Identify Friend or Foe
> 
> * (II): ”The CCS-class battlecruiser is a mid-sized capital ship that is used in both offensive and defensive roles. This type of ship is known for its large personnel and equipment capacity, which makes it ideal for infantry, vehicle, and matériel deployments during ground engagements.” (Source: [Halopedia: CCS-Class Battlecruiser](https://www.halopedia.org/CCS-class_battlecruiser) )
> 
> * (III): All food in it is made of substitutes, likely some kind of nutrient paste. As of 2552, real meat was severely rationed and something only the wealthy could afford. The tastes would likely be similar to the real thing. The only ones we’ve seen were in Halo: Combat Evolved, on the _Pillar of Autumn_. The options are turkey, ham/cheeseburger, hot dog, and meatloaf dinners. There would presumably be different choices for breakfast and lunch. Drinks are cola, lemon/lime, root beer, orange juice, water, iced tea, lemonade, coffee, hot tea, and hot chocolate. There is also a ‘Chef’s Special’ and ‘Chef’s Surprise’ choice for food and drink respectively, but I have no idea what those might be, as the meals are not created by a Human/chef. (Source: [Halopedia: Food and Drink Dispenser](https://www.halopedia.org/Food_and_drink_dispenser) )
> 
> * (IV): The sterile field generator is exactly what it sounds like. It’s standard use in pretty much every type of infirmary and medical facility. There’s also portable that can be carried and used on the field. (Source: [Halopedia: Sterile Field Generator](https://www.halopedia.org/Sterile_field_generator) )
> 
> * (V): Sangheili = Elite, Unggoy = Grunt, Kig-Yar = Jackal/Skirmisher, Yanme’e = Drones, Lekgolo = name for Hunters as a race, Mgalekgolo = the specific name for Hunter bonded pairs, San’Shyuum = Prophets, Engineers = Huragok


End file.
